sally: a journey, a venture, an expression of feeling, an outburst, an attack, a wisecrack ... me

Monday, May 08, 2006

Run Bush Out of Town on a Poll

Ron Edmonds, AP

"Polling is an instrument for gauging public opinion. When a president or any other leader pays attention to poll results, he is, in effect, paying attention to the views of the people. Any other interpretation is nonsense." George H. Gallup

A new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows George W. Bush's approval rating hitting a new low of 31 percent. Only four presidents in the history of polling have done worse: Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush, Dubya's father.

Gallup says an unprecedented 65% of the public disapproves of George W. Bush's performance overall. Well. Finally. People are paying attention.

Among the president's own base, it's worse. Only 52% of conservatives and 68% of Republicans approve of the job Bush is doing. Both are record lows among those groups.

Moderates gave the president an approval rating of 28%, liberals 7%. Huh? These are our people. I have Got to know who they are and what they're drinking.

This is a huge gift to Democrats. But what will they do with it? Impeachment comes to mind. Bloggers have been using the I-word for almost a year. The media's begun to use it. Only Democrats seem reluctant to try.

One reason, of course, is that Congress's approval rating isn't as low. And they're the ones who vote to impeach.

We should send them a simple, straightforward message: Keep supporting the president and we'll stop supporting you.